How to Detect

This came from MSN

From: stayyerAU Sent: 11/02/2008 8:17 AM
Gday Matt

It sounds to me that you are doing it right if you are digging junk as you obviously can hear the signals, BUT what you have to now learn is to recognise the more subtle signals that your detector makes.

Unless the piece is large or close to the top then the signals you should be listening for are sometimes no more than just a waver in the threshold, this requires a bit more concentration in areas that have been well detected, and the first thing you have to do is slow down your swing, get your coil as close to the ground as you can, and work on keeping it at the same height for the whole swing.

Next thing is work on your settings, learn what changes are made, with different switch positions, the best way to set you machine is to bury a gold target in the area you are working and then play with all the settings until you find what works best, if you dont have a nugget yet then buy one, lead is the next best thing, so a sinker will do for the purpose of the exercise.

Another tip I can give you is to do some tests on the tone setting as everyone has different hearing, I found that I recognise targets a lot easier with the tone set at about a quarter turn than I do when its higher, once i found this out I started to get results.

Locate a spot that looks interesting to you, and work it thoroughly, take your time and get the coil in close to the base of the trees, and under all of the bushes, it may help you to do this with a small coil, make sure you read up on the difference between a mono coil and a double d coil as each of this send a different signal into the ground, if the ground allows then I prefer to use a mono coil for this purpose.

Lastly dig every signal that you hear until you are satisfied as to what it is, remember deep gold will usually sound like nothing more than ground noise, and the majority of loud screechy signals will usually be rubbish, and always go back over the hole as sometimes a piece of gold will be masked by rubbish.

One last thing, back in the old days the diggers would camp right on the gold, so the areas with the high concentrations of rubbish will usually be where they were working, you will have to perservere a bit but if you are digging buried targets then you should get some gold, put the rubbish to one side as you may want to detect the area again with a bigger coil or when you upgrade your detector, and you wont have to dig them up again.

Hope this helps, and maybe next time you post i will see some colour(nugget photo)

cheers

stayyerAU

Nice info Stayyer
I agree that burying a target is a great way to tune and test your machine.Some more tips.To run your machine on tracking is like driving an automatic car its a lot easier but for newbies theres a trap here.You hear a faint rise in the theshold so you continue to sweep your coil left and right over it (is it or isnt a signal)and the faint rise disappears and you move on.By doing this your machine has just tracked out the target.When you hear this type of signal ground balance your machine to fixed off the target. then sweep it over it again.The signal will return.Many faint targets are lost if this procedure is not followed.
Know the ground.Tremendous information can be gained if you can go on a day trip from a detector hire shop.Know your machine as above.Or buy one of Jonathan Porters DVDs (I have one for each minelab Machine I have used)Watch them over and over so that you fully understand your machines functions.Dont give up when you find your first nugget from a fient signal you will have a smile on your face for days.
ASK QUESTIONS on this website.Chasing Gold is like an appenticeship the more you learn the greater your chances.People can only tell you where the gold was not where it is.When you have done your apprenticeship you will have the ability to choose your own ground.Thats prospecting
Cheers Dig

I agree that using fixed will keep you on the signal.
With time and experience and using tracking there is a fine line between gold and a ground noise.
Once on a signal swift passes over the target will bring it in clearer before it fades. Ground noise will fade with each swing from the first swing.
However if you get a strong deep signal type tone then re ground balance and switching to fixed then keep digging until you find the source of the signal.
Small shallow targets don't tune out easily once the machine knows their there.
Brett.